Last week, the ninth and tenth grade participants in TABC’s Olam HaChochma Scholars Program were treated to an engaging presentation by Ms. Lea Speyer, the senior correspondent for the prestigious newspaper, the Algemeiner. Sharing her knowledge of how to conduct interviews and accurately report journalistically, Ms. Speyer spoke at length about her own area of expertise: anti-Semitism and BDS on college campuses and on social media. Explaining the current environment of increased anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism around the world, Ms. Speyer described stories on which she had reported, which combated and brought awareness to this pressing issue. She informed the students of the mind-blowing statistic that 75 percent of Jewish college students have either witnessed or directly experienced anti-Semitism on campus, stressing the need to bring cognizance to this cancerous propaganda.

The focus of Ms. Speyer’s lecture was the integration of interview material into one’s writing, which was particularly apt due to the fact that many of the students may be conducting interviews regarding their research topics. She stressed the preparation involved before handling an interview, as concise and thought-provoking questions must be planned and a strategy of accomplishing the goals of the interview must be established. Additionally, Ms. Speyer spoke about the challenge of keeping the interviewee on topic and about the technique of maximizing the ideas of the interviewee and evoking the points of interest. She concluded by discussing the skill of implementing the information gained from the interview into one’s research in a way that recreates the emotions and beliefs of the interviewee. The presentation was tremendously beneficial for the students.